Automatic lock for elevated carriers.



E. G. GIPE.

AUTOMATIC LOOK FOR ELEVATED CARRIERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1913. I 1,087,653. Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

"IIIIIIII! illlllllkisz E. c. GIPB. AUTOMATIC LOCK FOR ELEVATED CARRIERS.

. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1913. I 1,087,653. Patented Feb. 17,1914.,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@WM/ may,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE.

EMANUEL C. GIPE, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

AUTOMATIC LOCK FOR ELEVATED CARRIERS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EMANUEL C. GIPE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toronto, in the county of York and Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Locks for Elevated Carriers, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which corresponding numerals of reference in the different figures indicate like parts.

My invention relates to that class of store service carriers employing detachable baskets, and my object is to provide a simple, durable and efl'ective lock for detachably looking a basket to and releasing it from a car by manipulating a pull-cord at the end of the way connected with any well known form of stirrup, such as is ordinarily employed, for raising and lowering the basket to and from the car. I accomplish said ob ject in the manner and by the means hereinafter more particularly described and definitely pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,-Figure 1 represents a station at the end of an elevated way, showing a car upon said way, a pull-cord, pulleys and stirrup for raising and lowering a basket, and a basket as it would appear when suspended from a stirrup and in its lowered position; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken upon the line 2, Fig. 1, viewed in the direction of the arrow there shown; Fig. 3 is a plan view taken upon the line 3, Fig. 1, showing the cross-bar or has ket-bail with the stirrup-bar beneath and in engagement therewith; Fig. i is an enlarged view in detail of the gravity locking member or keeper, said view being taken upon the line a, Fig. 2, viewed in the direction of the arrow there shown, said keeper being shown in full lines as it would appear normally when the basket is detached, a portion of the cross-bar of the basket being shown beneath; Fig. 5 is a like View showing the keeper interlocked with the cross-bar in the position which it would assume when the basket issuspended fro-m the car; and Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken upon the line 6, Fig. 5, viewed in the direction of the arrow there shown.

Referring to the drawings,.1, Fig. 1, rep resents the usual-hanger depending from a ceiling, to act as an anchorage for a horizontal wire 2, comprising an elevated way Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 30, 1913.

Patented F e1). 17, 19-14. Serial No. 782,146.

for a car 8, having grooved wheel's l. Secured to the hanger 1, 1s a bumper 5, of

any well knownvconstruction, provided with. spring catches 6 adapted to engage lugs 7 upon the end of the car to hold it in a predetermined position at the end of the way. Inasmuch. as the invention does not pertain to propulsion, no means is shown, for releasing said catches. Extending forwardly from the hanger 1, above the wire-way, is an arm 8, having a cr0sshead' 9, arranged to support pulleys 10, 10, which are in alinement with pulleys 11 mounted upon laterally extended baskets 12. Parallel cords 13, 13, are trained over the pulleys 10 and 11, the rear ends of said cords being attached to a weighted spreader 14, to which a pullcord 15, having a handle 16, is attached. The forward portions of the cords 13 are passed downwardly over the pulleys 10, through tubes 17, 17', and inclosed coiled springs 18, 18, Fig. 1, to knobs 19, 19, upon the upper ends of links 20, 20, the lower ends of which are attached to a stirrup 21, arranged in a vertical plane at right angles to that of the wire-way. The counterweight or member 11 is heavier than the stirrup and is intended to hold the latter in a raised position with the knobs 19 in normal contact with washers 22, Fig. 1, at the lower ends of the springs 17, so as to normally hold the stirrup 21 at a predetermined dis tance below the car, as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and2.

The car is provided with a detachable basket 23, having bail members 24, which serve to connect it to a cross-head 0r suspending keeper, generally designated by 25, adapted to be detachably locked to the car. Said cross-head is provided with recesses 26, 26, near its respective ends, as shown in Fig, 8, so located that when the car is at a station, as shown in Fig. 1, and the stirrup is held upwardly in its normal position by the counterweight 14, the links 20 will enter said recesses with the heads 19 pressing upwardly against the washers 22, so that when the handle 16 is pulled downwardly, the stirrup 21 will rise beneath and into contact with the crosshead 25, so as to lift the latter to actuate the lock; the springs 18 serving to retain said stirrup normally in a position to enter said recesses. Vhen the basket is lowered, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the cords 13 will retain their respective positions in said recesses, as shown in Fig. 3,

so as to bring said stirrup in proper relation to the car when the basket is raised. The fame of the car 3 is provided with parallel frame members 27, 2?, spaced apart in a well known way for the reception of a looking member between them. Formed upon said frame members are depending guidemembers 28, 28, having opposing diverging guide-faces 29, better shown in Figs. 4 to (3, inclusive, for engaging and guiding the basket head or suspending keeper 25 into proper position to engage the locking mechanism when the basket is raised.

All of the mechanism above described except the special construction of the basket suspending member or keeper is old and well known in varying forms, and the novelty of my invention lies in a peculiar form of looking mechanism adapted to coact with said suspending keeper to alternately lock and release the same as the basket is raised and lowered, which mechanism will now be described.

Located between the frameanembers 27, midway between the ends thereof, is a gravity catch or locking member, generally designated by 30, which is pivotally suspended upon a bolt or rivet 31 passed through the frame-members, so as to be free to swing forward or back between said frame-members. The width of the widest parts of said catch is such as to cause it to substantially till the space between the frame-members 27, and it is so weighted with respect to its pivotal point as to cause it to hang normally in the position shown in Fig. 4. The lower edge or periphery of said catch is provided with a curved contact or deflecting surface 32, extending from a point 33 to a point 34, the former being normally at the lowest level and close to the plane of one of the guard faces 29. A narrow web portion is formed between the upper and lower portions of the catch, both of which portions are of substantially uniform width and of irregular shape. The lower widened portion, generally designated by 36, has an upper contact or cam-surface 37, extending most of the way from the point 33, in a straight line to a high point 38, from whence it is curved on a slightly downward incline, to a point 39, and thence upwardly to the point or nose 34, thereby forming at said point 39 what may be termed an engaging or retaining notch, for the purpose hereinafter described. The upper widened portion of said catch, generally designated by 40, forms in a measure a counterpart of the lower cam-portion, being provided with a deflecting surface 41, opposite the part 48, a reentrant curve 42, above the part 38, and a deflecting portion 43, opposite to the notch 39, having inner and outer deflecting or cam surfaces 44, 45. In the example illustrated, I have duplicated the deflecting surfaces by placing them upon opposite sides of the locking member, so that the web or' connecting portion may be central. This I regard as the preferable construction, in that it tends to balance the action, although I do not intend to be confined thereto. The cross-head keeper 25 is made to straddle the web 35, and is provided with means for entering the grooves between and engaging the cam-surfaces described. Said keeper is made in two parts 46, 46, in alinement with each other but separated at the middle; said parts being held in fixed relation by means of a U-shaped connecting member 47. Formed upon the parts 46 are pins 48, 48, having a common axis and arranged to project toward each other with a space between the ends sufiicient to receive the web 35, and enter said grooves.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming the basket to be suspended from the stirrup and lowered beneath the car as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a downward pull upon the handle 16 serves to elevate the basket until the pins 48 are brought into contact with the cam or deflecting surface 32 of the gravity catch 30. As the crosshead continues to rise, the catch is deflected toward the left, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, until the pins 48 rise to the points or ends 34, when the catch tends to reverse its movement and allow the pins 48 to enter the side grooves so as to engage in turn the several cam surfaces. As the keeper is lifted, the pins pass to a level above the lower end of the part 43, and the cam-surface 45 being in contact with them, the keeper is, for the moment, prevented from moving farther to the right. Upon releasing the handle 16, the basket descends and passes into the notched portion 39 before the catch has time to swing to the right sutficiently to permit the raised part 38 to pass under the pins. The result is that said pins fall into the notches 39, thereby locking the keeper to the car. The car is then forwarded in the usual way and returned to the station, when the operator, desiring to detach and lower the basket, pulls downwardly upon the ban dle 16, thus lifting the keeper until the pins 48 rise out of the notch 39, thereby permitting the catch to shift to the right, so as to permit the pins to rise upon the opposite side of the part 43 and into contact with the part 42. The operator then eases up upon the pull-cord, thus permitting the keeper to descend. During this interval the catch is free to move to its normal position, when the pins 48 will be in a vertical plane at the left of the raised portion 38 of the cam, and hence, as the basket is permitted to descend, the pins being then in contact with the surface 37, serve to deflect the lower end of the catch to the right and to pass downwardly without obstruction. It

will thus be seen that the first lifting and partial lowering of the keeper results in looking it to the car, while a repetition of the same movements serves in turn to release I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction shown, inasmuch as it maybe varied without departing from the principle involved, the essence of which contemplates a gravity catch pivoted upon the car upon a horizontal axis, said catch being provided with a lower peripheral cam-surface adapted to normally assume a position obliquely inclined to the vertical path of the keeper, said catch having a side groove for the reception of engaging means upon said suspending member, which groove is extended from a normally low point upon one edge to a normally high point upon the other, the same being inclined downwardly from said high point to form an engaging notch, thence upwardly, and thence downwardly in a path oblique to a vertical plane.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with a car mounted upon an elevated way, of a carrying receptacle, means for raising and lowering the same to and from the car, a gravity locking catch pivotally mounted upon a horizontal axis upon the frame of the car, a suspending member upon said receptacle for engaging said locking catch, and means for positively guiding said suspending member into locking relation with said catch, the latter being provided with an inclined peripheral deflecting cam-surface to cause it to be moved in a given direction by the lifting of said suspending member, a side cam-groove therein to receive an engaging element upon said suspending member to permit said locking catch to reverse the direction of its movement toward a normal position, anotch for arresting said movement when the suspending member is first lowered, and a continuation of said cam-groove, said continuation being inclined upwardly from said notch and thence downwardly to the lower portion of said locking member.

2. The combination with a car adapted to travel upon an elevated way, of a detach able receptacle, means for raising and lowering the same in a given path to and from said car, a keeper upon said receptacle adapted to be raised and lowered in said path, a gravity catch mounted upon a horizental axis upon said car, said axis being substantially in the plane of the path of said keeper, said catch having a cam upon its lower edge oblique to the plane of movement of said. keeper to be deflected by the latter, said catch having a groove for receiving said keeper, said groove commencing at one edge thereof and extending therefrom in inclined planes, first downwardly, thence upwardly to form an engaging notch for said keeper, and thence downwardly to the opposite edge of said catch, said engaging notch being adjusted to stand normally in a plane out of the vertical path of movement of said keeper.

3. The combination with a car adaptedto travel upon an elevated way, of a detachable receptacle, means for raising and lowering the same in a given path to and from the car, a keeper upon said receptacle adapted to be raised and lowered in said path, a gravity catch mounted upon a horizontal axis upon said car, said axis being substan tially in the plane of said path to permit said catch to swing in opposite directions across said path, said catch being provided with a peripheral cam arranged to stand normally in a plane oblique to said path, and a groove above said cam for receiving said keeper, said groove extending from edge to edge and having, a notch, a raised portion adjacent to said notch, an inclined portion adjacent to said raised portion, and a depending portion above said notch, said catch being weighted to normally hold said notch out of the path of movement of said keeper.

4. The combination with a car adapted to travel upon an elevated way, of a detachable receptacle, means for raising and lowering the same in a fixed path to and from the car, a keeper attached to said receptacle for locking the same to the car, said keeper being arranged at right angles to the plane of movement of said car, a gravity catch mounted upon a horizontal axis to swing in a plane lengthwise of the car between the longitudinal frame-members of the latter, guides upon said frame for guiding said keeper into operative contact with said catch to move the latter into an extreme abnormal position, said catch being provided with a deflecting cam-surface normally oblique to the plane of the vertical, and inclined side grooves extending from edge to edge of said catch for receiving oppositely directed engaging members upon said keeper, and a holding notch for engaging said members when said keeper is lowered into it.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 22nd day of July, 1913.

EMANUEL C. GIPE. lVitnesses:

L. C. SMITH, VERA M. PYKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

